Plastic Bag Initiative

Do you love your local farmers market? Living Lands & Waters is asking Quad City teachers to help spread awareness of plastic bag use at the Freight House Farmers Market! By creating plastic bag art to be on display at the market, you and your students can help reduce the use of plastic bags by spreading awareness.

See below the Freight House Farmers Market 2019 initiative to be the change, and lead the charge in reducing their single use plastics:

“I am reaching out to you on behalf of the Freight House Farmers Market, to invite you to partner with us on a new initiative. We are “Going Green in 2019.” This is the first of a multi-phased plan to make the FHFM more environmentally friendly and aligning with our mission statement.

Our goal for the new 2019 market season is to begin reducing our plastic use by eliminating single use plastic bags in our market. Last year alone, we estimate that over 100,000 single use plastic bags were handed out over our market season. The end-result contributing to clogged landfills and waste in OUR river, parks, and streets. We want to set the standard and be good stewards of the environment.

We recognize that this won’t be easy. How can you help?”

At Living Lands & Waters, we’ve seen first-hand how one person can make a difference. Chad Pregracke started LL&W in 1998 with the goal to clean up the Mississippi River. Since then, (and with the help of over 110,000 volunteers) LL&W has removed over 10 million pounds of trash from America’s rivers! The majority of these items collected were made of plastic. Those items include a plethora of plastics including plastic bottles, take-home containers, cutlery, coffee cups, milk jugs and laundry detergent. Plastic throw away culture has turned into the norm. The problem is these products create long term waste with short term use. Using an item once and throwing it away is wasteful and damages wildlife and us.

We need your help! Are you ready to be the change, and help Freight House Farmers Market with their goal to be more environmentally friendly? Here’s what YOU can do to help. LL&W is asking teachers and students to create plastic bag art to put on display around the farmer’s market. I’ve provided links below on articles with DIY plastic art for inspiration. We encourage you to get creative! See the picture above for an example of plastic bag art from our coworker in Massachusetts!

LL&W is asking for one piece (minimum) of plastic bag art (larger in size captures more eyes) to be dropped off (or sent to the Freight House Farmers Market at:

Lorrie Ambrose Beaman

421 W River Drive

Davenport, IA 52801

Lorrie can be reached at: (563) 322-6009

Your work will be displayed including a title, and name of student group and school.

Change is slow and it takes time, but like a barge, once it gains momentum, it’s hard to stop! Thank you for considering helping raise awareness for single-use plastic bag pollution at the Freight House Farmers market!

Inspiration for your artwork can come from the Freight House Farmers Market’s commitment to these core values: